Microcredit Women

Improved Essays
Since the early 1990s, microcredit, or the provision of small loans to borrowers in the poorest areas in the world who lack collateral and employment, has been widely regarded as an effective tool to combat poverty. Microcredit loans have been widespread in development institutions across the socio-political spectrum in the Global South, as part of local and national government initiatives and as independent entities (Uddin 144). Many researchers and practitioners also consider microcredit a strong mechanism to create positive social change in developing a collective spirit for women in impoverished communities; estimates suggest that women occupy 93% of the 92 million clientele of microcredit in the developing world (Uddin 143). Microcredit …show more content…
Mohammad Jashim Uddin has argued that, contrary to the humanitarian promises of microcredit programs, they have led, “to the exclusion of the poorest of the poor” resulting in significant income and asset inequality (148). Furthermore, Twyeafur Rahman and Hafiz Khan have found that many microcredit providers have withdrawn training and skill development sessions for borrowers, even though scholars and many borrowers themselves believe that these processes are necessary to maximize financial returns (93). In addition, the role of microcredit in facilitating gender empowerment is unclear; Md. Alam and Rafiqul Molla have pointed out that only 10.6% of female borrowers use the credit themselves (486). To this end, it is significant that development facilitators monitor microcredit practices in the Global South for the delivery of their humanitarian promises and investigate potential …show more content…
Anna Schurmann and Heidi Johnston have estimated that about 10% of the poor can be classified as ultra-poor as they are most vulnerable to factors that will increase deprivation (520). With many microcredit institutions requiring weekly repayments immediately after a loan has been taken, a major share of the ultra-poor is excluded from microcredit programs as they lack the initial endowment and cannot provide a regular income (Schurmann and Johnston 521). Those who partake in the program risk insolvency as they take credit from other NGOs to repay their weekly installments with interest. This evidence also supports the findings of Rahman and Khan - 43% of the borrowers of ASA, a leading microcredit institution in Bangladesh, are involved with more than one organization (92). Rahman and Khan have also stated that the ultra-poor risk social sanction and reclamation of assets if they lapse on their repayments (93). Therefore, the microcredit providers appear to isolate the ultra-poor or cause them to risk economic insolvency and social sanction to conduct business operations using the

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